While the cloistered glitz of the NATO summit and the publicized gore of the anti-NATO protests left an indelible mark on those who participated in these events, to most the NATO summit was unremarkable. But what have we learned?

Despite the fact that NATO might be "the most successful military alliance the world has ever seen," our transatlantic bonds go far beyond combined military operations. They are interwoven into the very fabric of our society.

You didn't stop war, end capitalism, or even get close to the NATO summit. All you did was attract more riot police to an otherwise peaceful event, leading to kettlings, beatings and arrests. Way to go.

This week's NATO summit on the future of the war in Afghanistan probably did not get to the matter of burn pits or abandoned latrines. These are the details of hell. They are also our legacy, in Afghanistan and Iraq.

The historic street demonstrations of 2012 will be meaningless unless citizens use the power of the vote this year to remove the worst offenders from office. They can start with the representatives and senators who voted no to due process rights.

Simply instituting a democracy is not enough for the future viability of Afghanistan. There needs to be discussion and increased thought behind what that democracy should look like, and how it can best fit the Afghan model.

There's a lot of confusion about the ballyhooed NATO Summit in Chicago, intended as a big boost to Obama's geopolitical leadership, showcased in his hometown. Here are some big outstanding questions about NATO's future.

There are major foreign policy items to which the Russians attribute very great importance but are of little significance to us, and vice versa. Call it a major saliency differential. This seems to lay the ground for a major deal that has yet to be struck.

The U.S. and NATO officials continue to call for pursuing greater regional diplomacy. They have yet to put forward concrete ideas about the content of such a negotiation that will include all of Afghanistan's neighbors.

While the media landscape has changed, our First Amendment rights haven't. Freedom of the press is more important, not less, when anyone with a mobile phone and an Internet connection can act as a journalist.

The history of violence that is coming to Chicago belongs entirely to NATO. What a paradox. We mask unutterable brutality and an agenda of endless violence and global domination in the language of Hallmark greeting cards and turn sound cannons on the ensuing cries of outrage.

In preparation for NATO, both local law enforcement and the military are sending a message to pimps, traffickers and potential customers: If you buy sex in Chicago, there will be consequences for your crimes.